Boys and Girls Alone

Paper: Boys and Girls Alone 1. In the three “Letters to the Editor” texts, we hear from various people how they see the experiment “Boys and Girls Alone”
Andrew Mackenzie (broadcaster on the show, first letter) is obviously not against the TV show since he chose to broadcast it. In his letter, he describes how secure it was for the kids to be on the show and how they were taken care of regardless of the situation. He is naturally trying to justify the show by telling how the produces made sure to have child chaperones and security around the children all the time. He clearly wants to convince the skeptics that the show is not doing any harm to the children, but the opposite. In his letter he says that the kids gain a lot of experience from being on the TV show and the kids’ parents learn a lot about their kids in a positive way.
Dr. Richard House (Lecturer in Psychotherapy, second letter) is not happy about the TV experiment at all. He thinks that no matter how much security and how many child chaperones you make keep an eye on the children it will never do any good for the kids. He calls the kids “child guinea-pigs” and compares them to animals. He says that even if Mr. Mackenzie has said that the kids have been screened by experts so they will not suffer from any kind of mental pain, it will never be possible to make sure that every kid is mentally suitable for the experiment. He is very much against the program.
Georgina Reid (mother of TJ, child on the show, text 2) is very positive about the concept and the experiment. With the headline “I was right to put TJ on TV” she has already stated her opinion before the reader even reads her letter. She was only worried once during the entire show, because she knew that the children were taken care of no matter what happened. They were never alone, their parents could go see them if they wanted, and she felt comfortable because everything about the experiment was so open. She says that it was great for TJ to be on the show, and she does not regret allowing him to be there.

2. James Donaghy has two different points of view on the TV show. One positive and one negative. Throughout the article he arguments for both the good and the bad things in the show. “The children surprised you with their wit and perceptiveness then depressed you with their selfishness and bullying.” He seems like an open minded person who tries to see things from different perspectives which, in my opinion at least, makes him more trustworthy. He mostly talks about reality TV in general and how he does not really like the idea of it. He calls it “Lab rat telly” because the programs/experiments are using people as lab rats, and he does not think that it is alright. In the last part of the article, James Donaghy is kind of playing with the thought of us (the viewers) as the ones who should be blamed. We are not just observers of the programs, we are actually the ones who should be put on television as lab rats. “You think you’re the observer when you’re really the rat. That goes for all of us who watch – polluted, infected, deranged fools”. I think James Donaghy is a good writer and his article is reliable. Even though he has his own opinion on things, he still tries to be as objective as possible and see the good and the bad sides of the issue.

3. I would never ever under any circumstances put my own kids on a reality show. If they accidentally do something stupid, it will be on worldwide television and they will not be able to run away from it. They will always be remembered for what they have done. Maybe the producer will cut the scenes differently so the episode is taken completely out of context (which might make it seem even worse) and it will still appear on people’s TVs. I would never let that happen to my kids. I know how much security there was around the children during the “Boys and Girls Alone” experiment, and some of the kids (like TJ, text 2) will probably get a lot of positive things out of being in it, but not all kids are the same, and I am sure that for some of the other kids it has been a bad experience. They might have been bullied or suppressed by the other children and no kid deserves that.

I do not think children belong in reality programs. When they grow up and know what they are doing, they can decide by themselves to go on “Paradise Hotel” or whatever, but not as long as their parents are in charge. That should not happen.

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